Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
May 11th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin This is the second of two blogs featuring my visit to Haerbin/Harbin in Heilongjiang Province in the NE of China. As previously stated, the main attraction for me to venture into these frozen realms d ... 74 photos[full story]
May 4th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin After some wild flower picking, and a quick jaunt around the “resort” grounds on a brand spankin new red pimp daddy of a mountain bike (owned by the Sun Mountain’s director, Mr. Yue ... [full story]
May 2nd 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin Have you ever been somewhere sooooo cold that your eyelashes temporarily froze together? This was one of the more unusual experiences I had on a visit to Haerbin/Harbin in the North East of China this ... 58 photos[full story]
April 30th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin The last time I ventured out of our Park Avenue apartment to see more of this vast country, I wound up a few borders away, and on a bus to Nowheresville, Philippines. With a new adventure ahead, and a ... [full story]
January 10th 2007Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin The first thing I saw upon exiting the train station in Harbin was a massive ice sculpture of several pigs (to celebrate the impending Chinese New Year), glowing with green light in such a manner they ... 27 photos[full story]
March 10th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin I'm going to preface this story with: So, my friends and I are sitting around on a Wednesday night discussing the following weekend (not the upcoming weekend, the one after that). We had planned on g ... 24 photos[full story]
January 30th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin On Wednesday, January 23rd, we got up and headed out to see other parts of Harbin - another sightseeing street and the temple area. First we walked down a street near our hotel to see the provincial ... [full story]
January 28th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin The week of January 21st, I visited Harbin, the capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. This northern province borders on Russia, and hosts and annual wintertime Ice and Snow Festival. ... [full story]
January 9th 2008Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin The end of our fall semester was celebrated by a punishing trip to the far north, near russia. It was quite cold. The train was tiring, but eye-opening. Talked to a woman who works in a kitchen cupboa ... 34 photos[full story]
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